Briefs

Rodman & Renshaw has initiated coverage of Evoke Pharma (NASDAQ:EVOK) with a “buy” rating and $27 price target. The stock closed at $2.91 on Wednesday.

Evoke is currently focused on advancing an intranasal formulation of metoclopramide designated, EVK-001.

“In our view, EVK-001 is substantially risk-mitigated, given the fact that it is being developed in diabetic gastroparesis [and] oral formulations of metoclopramide have been used to treat this condition for decades,” writes analyst Raghuram Selvaraju.

Evoke has generated positive proof-of-concept data from a Phase 2b trial in women with diabetic gastroparesis and is currently conducting a 200-patient, pivotal Phase 3 study in the U.S. Top-line data are expected in mid-2016.

“We anticipate that this data should enable Evoke to file directly for approval of EVK-001 in the U.S. via the 505(b)(2) pathway, which is designed for candidates that are reformulations of existing approved agents,” he added.